Worthy.Bible » Parallel » Psalms » Chapter 123 » Verse 2

Psalms 123:2 King James Version (KJV)

2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.


Psalms 123:2 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

2 Behold, as the eyes H5869 of servants H5650 look unto the hand H3027 of their masters, H113 and as the eyes H5869 of a maiden H8198 unto the hand H3027 of her mistress; H1404 so our eyes H5869 wait upon the LORD H3068 our God, H430 until that he have mercy H2603 upon us.


Psalms 123:2 American Standard (ASV)

2 Behold, as the eyes of servants `look' unto the hand of their master, As the eyes of a maid unto the hand of her mistress; So our eyes `look' unto Jehovah our God, Until he have mercy upon us.


Psalms 123:2 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

2 Lo, as eyes of men-servants `Are' unto the hand of their masters, As eyes of a maid-servant `Are' unto the hand of her mistress, So `are' our eyes unto Jehovah our God, Till that He doth favour us.


Psalms 123:2 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

2 Behold, as the eyes of servants [look] unto the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes [are directed] to Jehovah our God, until he be gracious unto us.


Psalms 123:2 World English Bible (WEB)

2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress; So our eyes look to Yahweh, our God, Until he has mercy on us.


Psalms 123:2 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

2 See! as the eyes of servants are turned to the hands of their masters, and the eyes of a servant-girl to her owner, so our eyes are waiting for the Lord our God, till he has mercy on us.

Cross Reference

Psalms 40:1-3 KJV

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

Psalms 130:5-6 KJV

I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

Psalms 119:123-125 KJV

Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes. I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.

Lamentations 3:25-26 KJV

The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 123

Commentary on Psalms 123 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Introduction

Upward Glance to the Lord in Times of Contempt

This Psalm is joined to the preceding Psalm by the community of the divine name Jahve our God . Alsted (died 1638) gives it the brief, ingenious inscription oculus sperans . It is an upward glance of waiting faith to Jahve under tyrannical oppression. The fact that this Psalm appears in a rhyming form, “as scarcely any other piece in the Old Testament” (Reuss), comes only from those inflexional rhymes which creep in of themselves in the tephilla style.


Verse 1-2

The destinies of all men, and in particular of the church, are in the hand of the King who sits enthroned in the unapproachable glory of the heavens and rules over all things, and of the Judge who decides all things. Up to Him the poet raises his eyes, and to Him the church, together with which he may call Him “Jahve our God,” just as the eyes of servants are directed towards the hand of their lord, the eyes of a maid towards the hand of her mistress; for this hand regulates the whole house, and they wait upon their winks and signs with most eager attention. Those of Israel are Jahve's servants, Israel the church is Jahve's maid. In His hand lies its future. At length He will take compassion on His own. Therefore its longing gaze goes forth towards Him, without being wearied, until He shall graciously turn its distress. With reference to the i of היּשׁבי , vid., on Psalms 113:1-9, Psalms 114:1-8. אדוניהם is their common lord; for since in the antitype the sovereign Lord is meant, it will be conceived of as plur. excellentiae , just as in general it occurs only rarely (Genesis 19:2, Genesis 19:18; Jeremiah 27:4) as an actual plural.


Verse 3-4

The second strophe takes up the “be gracious unto us” as it were in echo. It begins with a Kyrie eleison , which is confirmed in a crescendo manner after the form of steps. The church is already abundantly satiated with ignominy. רב is an abstract “much,” and רבּה , Psalms 62:3, something great (vid., Böttcher, Lehrbuch , §624). The subjectivizing, intensive להּ accords with Psalms 120:6 - probably an indication of one and the same author. בּוּז is strengthened by לעג , like בּז in Ezekiel 36:4. The article of הלּעג is restrospectively demonstrative: full of such scorn of the haughty (Ew. §290, d ). הבּוּז is also retrospectively demonstrative; but since a repetition of the article for the fourth time would have been inelegant, the poet here says לגאיונים with the Lamed , which serves as a circumlocution of the genitive. The Masora reckons this word among the fifteen “words that are written as one and are to be read as two.” The Kerî runs viz., לגאי יונים , superbis oppressorum ( יונים , part. Kal , like היּונה Zephaniah 3:1, and frequently). But apart from the consideration that instead of גּאי , from the unknown גּאה , it might more readily be pointed גּאי , from גּאה (a form of nouns indicating defects, contracted גּא ), this genitival construction appears to be far-fetched, and, inasmuch as it makes a distinction among the oppressors, inappropriate. The poet surely meant לגאיונים or לגּאיונים . This word גּאיון (after the form רעיון , אביון , עליון ) is perhaps an intentional new formation of the poet. Saadia interprets it after the Talmudic לגיון , legio ; but how could one expect to find such a Grecized Latin word ( λεγεών ) in the Psalter! dunash ben-Labrat (about 960) regards גאיונים as a compound word in the signification of הגּאים היונים . In fact the poet may have chosen the otherwise unused adjectival form גּאיונים because it reminds one of יונים , although it is not a compound word like דּביונים . If the Psalm is a Maccabaean Psalm, it is natural to find in לגאיונים an allusion to the despotic domination of the יונים .